Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Poll result and trying to Jim-up the TJ.

Our most recent poll asked for your views on why there are no publicly available toup-less pictures of Bill Shatner from after the 1950s. Anecdotalevidence from several Star Trek actors suggests that Bill Shatner was still only wearing the toupee in professional and public situations (rather than in private situations too) at least up until part way through the second season of the show. So why no casual bald photographs from that era?

15% said that whomever else may possess such pictures fears the consequences of releasing them; 38% said that such pictures have been actively suppressed by Bill Shatner (perhaps through threats of legal action, or they were quietly bought up by a private investigator hired by the actor); the greatest number of votes, 45%, suggested that such photographs simply do not exist. This means that even in private social gatherings, photography of a toup-less Bill Shatner was strictly forbidden.

Even family photos showed the toupee in place. Are there others without the toupee that haven't been released?

Thanks for voting!

Finally, we also have a couple of history-themed educational videos from a series called This Was America, which have been madeavailable by the Peabody Awards Collection Archives. While the documentaries themselves are a little on the dry side, they do offer some valuable toupological insight.

The first, from 1979, shows Bill Shatner effectively trying to add a touch of the former "Jim Kirk lace" side-parting to his still relatively new "TJ Curly". Does it work? Not quite. Perhaps here we see the seeds of why the "TJ Curly" had to be the way it was.

By 1980, the experiment was over and the toup became decisively round. A new decade had begun and the toupee was evidently reflecting the changing times...

It's pretty rare to see the such drastic toupee changes within programs of the same series...UPDATE:

19 comments:

The side parted toup, just looks silly like a raccoon has been put on his head. Just goes to show you that the shat, did not care too much about what was on his head, as long as he wasn't bald. That toup, had everything wrong with it. Or was this really a very short return, to the "lost years" another fantastic post shat toup.

I see what you mean @most jerk this could be it. But sadly, one supid toup takes over, from another. I dont like the 79 filler toup, or the 76/78, part 79 than 80-2000 tj curly mark 1 or 2 toup. They made it so obvious, he was wearing a toupee, bill has had some good hairpieces, in his time, he should have stuck with the 75 piece he had for the tenth level, a fine almost jk toup. Why did he change his mind! And i'am so sorry, Shat toup but I must point out to you that Bachs wonderful curly wig, should not be liken to the trash on shats head.

Shats was still trim and handsome in the late seventies, but no way that he would appear without a toupee, even if it was a bad one. The "bald is beautiful" and "shaved is better" thing started in the late nineties, I think

I did some amateur toupology, and I found the line of demarcation between the real hair and the toup. http://i43.tinypic.com/141v7dz.jpg

My touposcope indicated he has a significant amount of side hair left. This makes me wonder why did he start wearing toupees that were almost full wigs with a side hairline, like the pics from the 87 US World Open?

I know it has been speculated he suffers from traction alopecia from years of wearing tight-fitting toupee's, But I would think that would only affect the hair on top. What happened in seven years to make him switch to a full wig?

We've done a few posts on the evolution of the "TJ Curly" see here and here.

It may be possible to determine the exact point when the Phase I top hat became the Phase II top hat with sides via a study of TJ Hooker episodes. We know it happened between Trek II and Trek III (circa 1983-84). It may have happened during the inter-season hiatus of TJ Hooker - but either way, from one episode to another, the shift will likely be evident. We'll ask our teams to see if they can't find that specific point or maybe our readers can!

He may have changed, his toup mid season tj hooker either 2nd or 3rd season, don't know why? Mostly toupee wearers would wear, a toup just to cover the baldness, and blend it in with their real hair so why did shatner, go for a full helmet, when he still had side and back hair? Just a thought!

Ok I'm confused, "Phase I top hat", "Phase II", are these under the TJ Curly family? I have not heard these terms before. Are they cataloged as their own unique toupees? What's an amateur toupologist to do to keep track of it all? My understanding is that there are four main categories, JKL, Lost Years, TJ Curly and Denny Crane. Shouldn't the outlier toups, environmental toups and hybrid toups be sub categories that fall under the four main styles? Don't we need a hierarchy here?

@MJ: The TJ has been previously sub-categorized to distinguish between the breezy weave of early Hooker and the "combat ready" unit, known as Phase II. I agree that a broader toupological cladogram is needed, based on functional anatomy of the toupee.

My own theory is that the Phase II TJ marked the start of Shat's relationship with Ed Katz. All of the Katz toups are full-on synthetic hair wigs with only a little scruff of real hair at the back to give the illusion of hair growth [See: "What's that at the back"]. Also at this time, the evolution of Shat's styles began to parallel those of Burt Reynolds - a documented Katz customer.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the toupological-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

It looks like we may be on a verge of another shift of toupological proportions. Are we in store for the return of the TJ Curly style toup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RzXlpbi12mY#! (starts at about 16:19)?

@TouperUp Thanks, that's an interesting style. We wonder if Bill Shatner doesn't have a cupboard of sorts containing the "Denny Katz" in various lengths of hair - short, medium and long. That one seems pretty long. Or is he seeking a more permanent shift? We'll do a post on it at some point in the future! -ST

"And while in my lifetime I've seen science make extraordinary inroads into solving the most complex questions of life, after all this time I admit that I am thrilled that there are some things that forever will remain a mystery. For example, do I wear a toupee?"

"May I say that this is the most delightful blog I have discovered in many a moon. It's informative without being cruel, and there's genuine affection for Mr. Shatner. Well done." - A reader's kind comment.

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